Sir Sidney Now a Royal

Just last week we were wondering if former Oriole (and Giant and Yankee and Cardinal and Twin and Ranger) Sidney Ponson was going to get another shot in the majors after a good showing for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic. The answer turned out to be yes.

The Kansas City Royals have inked the troubled starter to a minor league deal and offer him a chance to compete for a starting position.

Gil Meche, Zack Greinke and Kyle Davies are set for their rotation but the Royals are still trying to figure out the back end. The battle seems to be between Luke Hochevar, Brian Bannister, Horacio Ramirez and now Ponson.

Ponson stands a decent chance of breaking camp with the Royals as both Hochevar and Bannister posted losing records (6-12 and 9-16, respectively) with ERAs above 5.50 in 2008. Ramirez, on the other hand, didn't start a single game last year in a season he split with the Royals and White Sox.

This is the second piece of good news for Ponson this week as he finally reached a settlement with the Orioles stemming from the team terminating his contract in 2005.

Baltimore owner Peter Angelos had contended that Ponson's string of bad behavior at the time had voided the right-hander's contract. Ponson was due $10.1 million in 2006 but it's unclear how much of that money he will see as a result of the settlement.

I can't believe you guys don't have a post up on the awesome comeback win for the USA last night against Puerto Rico. The drama and late game heroics were all any fan could wish for! If anybody believes this WBC tournament doesn't mean anything then you just need to witness the reaction of the US team after David Wright came through with a walk off hit. Last night was totally awesome and I just wish the press would give that game and this tournament the credit it deserves!